The Destruction of Ypres All through World War I

During World War I, the ancient Belgium market town of Ypres had been in a very tactically significant place near to the British front lines and is also one of the most notorious areas along the Western Front as a consequence of the bloody fighting that took place here.

The city had been in the middle of the Ypres Salient, a part of the lines protruding towards the German lines. Historically, Ypres could possibly be traced back to the 12th century. In spite of years of fighting and occupation, Ypres grew but with the start of The First World War, the town under German control.

The 1st Battle of Ypres for the duration of October and November 1914 saw the Allies capture Ypres from the Germans and despite serious fighting around Ypres until the First World War ended in 1918, the Germans never recaptured the town.

Yet, during the four years of World War I, the city suffered a fearful toll because 4 big battles were fought about here. In the 2nd Battle of Ypres in April and May 1915, the Germans retook the high ridge off to the east of Ypres. The area covered the village of Passchendaele.

In 1917, among the most deadly struggles of the First World War occurred. The 3rd Battle of Ypres or Passchendaele saw Allied Forces recapture the ridge though at a terrible cost. Between July and November 1917, there was more than 500 thousand casualties on both sides and Ypres was virtually wiped off the map by German heavy guns.

The well-known Cloth Hall and quite a few other structures were reduced to rubble and ages of heritage were gone. In 1933, reconstruction began on the Cloth Hall and this was at long last finished in 1967 having been painstakingly rebuilt to restore its historical past. Nowadays, the Cloth Hall in Ypres is home to the In Flanders Fields Museum.

All through The First World War, the Menin Gate was simply an exit cut from the eastern ramparts of Ypres. A great many troops would have marched via this exit en route towards the front . In 1927, the Menin Gate Memorial was unveiled. It commemorates the names of around 54,000 soldiers who sadly are even now missing about the battlefields all across the Ypres Salient and each and every night, the Last Post ceremony takes place here at 8pm by the grateful citizens of Ypres.

Recent Posts

This is a Widget Section

This section is widgetized. If you would like to add content to this section, you may do so by using the Widgets panel from within your WordPress Admin Dashboard. This Widget Section is called "Feature Bottom Right"